Amber Rudd, aided by a sign language interpreter, said that she would be reviewing the Government's target to get 1 million disabled people into work by 2027 with a view to making it more ambitious (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) must "go further, to listen harder and to reform effectively.”

In a keynote speech to the disability charity Scope, the Conservative politician unveiled a raft of new policies, with a speech vowing to “significantly improve” the benefits system for the disabled.

She said disabled people had enough problems to overcome without the Department for Work and Pensions adding to their difficulties.

Amber admitted: "Some disabled people have said to me they feel as though they are put on trial for seeking state support.

"Nobody in government wants that."

In an apparent softening of the Government's rhetoric she said disabled people had enough problems to overcome without the Department for Work and Pensions adding to their difficulties (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

Drawing on the experience of her late father, who was blind for more than 30 years, she showed sympathy, saying: "My father became blind in 1981.

"For 36 years his blindness was a normal part of my family's life. Of my life," she said.

"I reflected on my father's lack of sight and how it affected his life and the lives of those who loved him, as I considered my role now in supporting disabled people in Britain.

"I was close to may father, he meant everything to me. I want to believe I have felt his anxiety, the struggle his blindness brought as he stumbled in dignity, in frailty.

"These weren't intellectual exercises to me, they were visceral."

Ms Rudd said that she would be reviewing the Government's target to get 1 million disabled people into work by 2027 with a view to making it more ambitious.

Charities welcomed the package of measures but said Ms Rudd must go further. Mark Hodgkinson, Chief Executive of Scope, said in The Mirror: “Far more progress needs to be made before disabled people are truly equal. Disabled people will rightly say that these measures don’t go far enough.”

Here's a summary of nine key announcements

Between July and September in 2018 alone, 72 per cent of PIP appeals heard found in favour of the claimant (Image: Kirsty O'Connor/PA Wire)

1. 270,000 disabled pensioners will no longer face regular reviews

More than 250,000 disabled pensioners will be spared cruel repeated tests to prove they deserve benefits.

From this Spring, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants over the state pension age will no longer face "unnecessary" reviews every few years.

Instead it is thought the claimants, of which there are currently around 270,000, will face “light touch” reviews of their condition once a decade.

They can still have a review if they ask for one.

The Tory welfare chief will also "look to" merge tests for two benefits, ESA and PIP, into one system, and could upgrade targets to help more disabled people into work.

Charities welcomed the shake-up but demanded Ms Rudd go further - warning "millions of others will still be stuck in a failing system".

2. Fit-for-work test giant Maximus will have its contract extended

Disabled people should not feel as though they are being "put on trial" for claiming state benefits, Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd has said (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Benefits outsourcing giant Maximus will have its contract for hated ‘fit-for-work’ tests extended by more than a year, ministers announced today.

The corporate empire's benefit testing firm will carry out ‘Work Capability Assessments’ for ESA payments for a further 16 months to July 2021.

The extension - the second since the contract began in 2014 - will allow the firm to rake in tens of millions of pounds more taxpayers' money from the tests. But ministers insist it is a temporary measure to ensure "stability" ahead of a huge shake-up...

3. Two different disability benefit tests could be combined

Ms Rudd announced plans to share data between different DWP benefits tests through "one unified, integrated service" from 2021.

Under the new scheme, officials a single in-house DWP computer system would provide a more joined up experience. For some claimants, this integration could then be taken further - by combining two assessments for two benefits into one single appointment.

Officials will carry out a trial run of merging the fit-for-work test - which assesses people for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - into assessments for a different disability benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

Unlike the shared computer system, there is no date set for the idea of merged tests, and plans for it have not yet been set in stone.

Ms Rudd argued it would pave the way for "a more joined-up claimant experience" in future. But charities warned it could just make things worse.

Genevieve Edwards of the MS Society warned: “It’s like harnessing two donkeys to a farm cart and expecting it to transform into a race chariot."

4. Appeal victories are 'too high' and the system will be looked at

Amber Rudd, aided by a sign language interpreter, speaks at a press conference at the Scope disability charity headquarters in London. She drew on her own family experience to underline her commitment to ensuring that people received the help they needed (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

The Work and Pensions Secretary said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) must "go further, to listen harder and to reform effectively."

And she admitted the number of PIP disability benefit appeals ruling against the government - 72 per cent last summer - was “too high” and of “particular concern.”

It's a major change in tone after the DWP repeatedly emphasised that the proportion of appeal victories were low compared to cases overall.

The Cabinet minister added: "We should do more to gather the evidence we need to make the right decision, earlier, so fewer claimants have to seek redress through a tribunal.

“I will be looking at this matter over the coming months.”

5. The sanctions regime could be softened

Ms Rudd told MPs: "My Department will be testing how we increase engagement and build a trusted and strong relationship between work coaches and claimants awaiting an assessment in Universal Credit, and those found to have Limited Capability for Work.

"Last month, in response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee report on benefits sanctions, the Department agreed to carry out a small test.

"[This is where] work coaches start from a point of no conditionality and scale up where appropriate, focusing on what claimants can do.

"This contrasts with the current approach, which starts at full conditionality and then tailors down accordingly.

"The Minister for Employment is taking this forward."

6. The internal appeal system could be reformed

Amber Rudd speaks at a press conference at the Scope disability charity headquarters in London where she announced that from the spring of this year, around 270,000 disabled pensioners will not have their personal independence payment (PIP) awards regularly reviewed (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

Currently to launch a benefits appeal you must go through an internal DWP system called "mandatory reconsideration" first.

Some claimants claim this system is a whitewash designed to put extra barriers in front of them. Fewer than a fifth of MRs are successful for claimants.

Ms Rudd said: "We will also be exploring whether we can enhance the mandatory reconsideration process to gather further evidence from claimants and make more accurate decisions sooner."

7. Sick pay reforms are finally being brought forward

Long-planned reforms to Statutory Sick Pay, touted for more than a year, will finally be consulted on "shortly".

Ms Rudd said: “When someone is too ill to work, the system that awaits them should provide the support they need without writing them off.

“I’ve been working with the Health Secretary to look at how we can improve statutory sick pay and occupational health, to enable employers to provide comprehensive support.

“We will shortly consult on reform of statutory sick pay and improving access to occupational health.

“We want to encourage and support people to play their part in this agenda.”

8. There'll be new research designed to help claimants

Ms Rudd said: “I will commission a new piece of research to better understand claimants’ experiences of the benefit system and how to meet their needs.

“This research will complement the report Scope published last week, which provides an important reminder of the extra costs faced by disabled people.

“Together these will inform future policy-making to better reflect the needs of disabled claimants.”

9. A disability work target could be made more ambitious

The target to see 1million more disabled people in work by 2027 could be raised, Amber Rudd said. The target was originally intended to apply over a decade.

But she said disabled employment rose 930,000 between 2013 and 2018 and she intended to go further.